Arthritis

There are more than 100 different types of arthritis. These diseases may cause pain, stiffness, and swelling in joints and other supporting structures of the body such as muscles, tendons, ligaments, and bones. Some forms can also affect other parts of the body, including various internal organs. Asthma

• Approximately 17.6 million adults (18 and over) have been told that they had asthma.

• Every eight hours a baby is born prematurely. Babies who are born preterm are at higher risk of needing hospitalization, having long-term health problems, and of dying than babies born at the right time.

• Cancer is the leading cause of death in the Asian/Pacific Islander population, and is second after heart disease for the white, black, and American Indian population.

• Overall, 6% of adults 18 years of age and over have had some form of cancer.  Women are somewhat more likely than men to have had cancer.

• Among women 65 years of age and over, 6% have had breast cancer, and 8% of men 65 years of age and over have had prostate cancer.
• Prostate cancer is the most common cause of cancer related fatalities in men aged 45 and older.

Cerebral palsy

• Cerebral palsy is a non-progressive disorder of the motor (muscle) control areas of the developing brain.
• There are 764,000 persons in the USA with cerebral palsy; the number of new cases per year has increased 25% during the past decade; now there are 9,750 new cases/year.
• 70% of cerebral palsy occurs prior to birth (prenatal); 20% occurs in the birthing period (perinatal); 10% occurs during the first two years of life (postnatal).
• Cerebral palsy is the second most common disorder of the developing brain, exceeded only by mental retardation.

• The decades-long dream of people with diabetes – insulin without injections – is about to come true, according to 2002 reports. Research success has been achieved with multiple options– a simple pill, transdermal skin patch, mouth spray, and several versions of pulmonary inhaled insulin.
• More than 17 million Americans have diabetes, a group of serious diseases characterized by high blood sugar levels that result from defects in the body's ability to produce and/or use insulin.

• 54 million Americans suffer with major disabilities.

• Nearly 1.4 million Americans have epilepsy, and the majority of these are under 45.

• There are 8.4 million visits to office-based neurologists.

• Heart Disease is America’s leading cause of death, by age, race, and sex.
• 1 in 5 males and females has some form of cardiovascular disease.
• This year an estimated 650,000 Americans will have a new coronary attack.
• On average, every 45 seconds, someone in the United States has a stroke.

• A total of 14,478 people died from HIV/AIDS in 2000.  The age-adjusted death rate from HIV declined nearly 2 percent between 1999 and 2000.
• HIV ranks 5th among the leading causes of death for all persons between the ages of 35 and 44, but 2nd among Hispanic males of that age group and 1st among African-American males of that age.

Leukemia/Lymphoma

• 670.000 Americans currently have leukemia, Hodgkin or non-Hodgkin lymphoma or myleoma.
• Someone new is diagnosed with lymphoma or leukemia-related cancer every five minutes.
• Every nine minutes, someone with leukemia or lymphoma dies.

• Approximately 1,500,000 Americans have a form of the disease.
• 90% of individuals diagnosed with the disease are women, and 80% of those afflicted with systemic lupus develop it between the ages of 15 and 45.
• Lupus is two to three times more common among African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and Native Americans.

• Number of Annual Office Visits to Physicians for Mental Disorders: 29,939,000 in 2000.

• Over 19 percent of high school students (grades 9 through 12) seriously considered suicide in 2001.

Multiple Sclerosis

• Approximately 400,000 Americans acknowledge having Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
• Every week about 200 people are diagnosed.
• Anyone may develop MS but there are some patterns. Twice as many women as men have MS.
• Studies indicate that genetic factors make certain individuals more susceptible than others, but there is no evidence that MS is directly inherited.

• Muscular Dystrophy is just one of many neuromuscular diseases that affect more than a million Americans.
• Muscular dystrophy can affect people of all ages. Although some forms first become apparent in infancy or childhood, others may not appear until middle age or later.

• Sickle cell disease is an inherited blood disorder that affects red blood cells.
• In the United States with an estimated population of over 270 million, about 1,000 babies are born with sickle cell disease each year.
• Sickle cell disease is a global health problem. In the United States it is estimated that over 70,000 people have sickle cell disease.